Chittoprasad and Somnath Hore found printmaking a strong medium to express social concerns. What advantage did printmaking offer them?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → It let them produce many artworks and reach more people
Option (1) It let them question the conventions of the art schools — Incorrect. This was the aim of Francis Newton Souza, leader of the Progressives in Bombay. It is not the gain of printmaking.
Option (2) It let them strike a balance between abstraction and the figurative — Incorrect. This is said of the sculptor Amarnath Sehgal, as in Cries Unheard. It is not the gain of printmaking.
Option (3) It let them produce many artworks and reach more people — Correct. Prints can be made in many copies, so the artists’ message on poverty could reach more people.
Option (4) It let them turn to the past and local artistic traditions — Incorrect. This was the move of Biren De, G. R. Santosh and K. C. S. Paniker in the 1960s, which led to Neo-Tantric art. It is not the gain of printmaking.
Note: This topic was not named in the CUET 2026 syllabus, but it was part of the NCERT chapter. In 2025 and 2026, NTA also asked questions on topics in NCERT that the CUET syllabus did not name. So our mocks have questions from every part of the NCERT chapter, to give you enough practice. Read the whole chapter, not only the sub-topics named in the syllabus.
NCERT (2026-27): “Seeing abject poverty around them and the plight of people in villages and cities, many young artists in Calcutta were drawn to socialism, especially Marxism. … They wanted their art to talk about these social problems. Chittoprasad and Somnath Hore, the two political artists of India, found printmaking to be a strong medium to express these social concerns. With printmaking, it is easier to produce multiple number of artworks and reach out to more number of people. Chittoprasad’s etchings, linocuts and lithographs showed the deplorable condition of the poor.” |